Anyway I'm bored. Name your top ten batsmen and quick bowlers in unzud.
Bowlers
Southee
Boult
Gillespie (when he's actually "booming" through the crease)
Milne
Wheeler
Bracewell
Henry
Wagner
Butler
Arnel
Ok I'll play, with FOOTNOTES. Ranked by current level with an eye towards playing tests for NZ (hence no Arnel).
Bowlers:
Southee (1)
Boult
....
Milne (2)
Wagner (3)
Bracewell (4)
Gillespie (5)
Henry (6)
....
Wheeler (7)
Other promising young bowlers (8)
Wildcard: McClenaghan (9)
(1) Agree Southee slightly > Boult mainly because I think most oppositions would see it that way.
(2) Based on limited information yes, but I just keep liking what I'm seeing; he's beating batsman and starting to get good results. Therefore rated higher than Wagner purely in terms of what the batsman has to deal with when facing him. That still leaves open the question of fitness and role for NZ - not going to bowl lots of overs in a 4-man attack like Wagner would.
(3) You know what you're going to get. It may not be pretty but it's been adequate to date.
(4) Neither confirms nor denies his spot on the edge of the NZ first XI - treading water. Definitely has not done enough to overtake Wagner though.
(5) Booming days are over imo. Still, not much between him and Bracewell at this point.
(6) So he had a poor A tour for whatever reason. That's not going to make me go all What You See Is All There Is and revise his rating to below his domestic peers like Wheeler, Small, Duffy - he's still better than them all imo.
(7) I do think he's a good bowler with a lot of potential and thus is rated slightly ahead of all other domestic bowlers.
(8) e.g. Neesham, Small, Duffy, Verma etc
(9) I just don't know how to rate him as a test prospect. There's the whole 'looks quick but speed gun says slow' thing. Though sometimes he actually
is quick. And some days he really
does just bowl 125km/h. Has been injury affected which may affect his ability to bowl lots of overs in tests for NZ if required, though also means that although he's 27 and hasn't cracked the team yet, it's possible we haven't seen the best of him yet. Has largely been average in domestic FC but occasional patches of brilliance, and playing ODIs for NZ may help him lift his game. I also wonder though if he's just happy to prioritise ODIs and T20s over tests at this point - be the next Kyle Mills. Despite all this, my mental image of his bowling is a ball to the left hander that pitches on a good length, hits the seam and rears up sharply and kicks away with the keeper taking the ball at head height, and even if the speed gun only shows 135, that makes me think potential test bowler.